Craig Murray Says....

"Chloe Smith outed as a party hack"

The Times Reveals Chloe's real job

Throughout this campaign Chloe Smith has been vague about her job and her Westminster connections. On her website she admits to having spent her gap year as an assistant to Gillian Shephard MP. According to her campaign website,"Chloe now works for a leading international firm which advises private businesses, government departments and public bodies". Earlier in the campaign it was established that this 'leading international firm' is in fact Deloitte Touche, the major accountancy firm who did such a good job auditing the accounts of the Royal Bank of Scotland before they went bankrupt. However we in the Craig Murray campaign could not work out what Chloe actually did for Deloitte Touche. Because she was so coy about what she did we assumed that - given her youth - her job was to make the tea.

We were wrong. An article in The Times has finally revealed what Chloe Smiths 'real job' is. She is in fact on secondment from Deloitte Touche to the Conservative Party Implementation Unit. Yes, she is a full time Conservative party hack, parachuted into Norwich North.

Chloe's boss in the Conservative party is James Clappison MP. You have possibly never heard of him, but if I remind you of the MP who claimed £100,000 for living expenses while owning 24 homes, you might remember him. The sins of her boss of course are not Chloe's sins. But it is significant that she has not mentioned who she works for, and has removed links to James Clappison from her website.

What is even more intriguing is why Deloitte Touche should continue to pay Chloe's wages while she is working for the Conservative party. In 2007 according to the Daily Express, the New Labour government spent nearly £2billion on 'consultants'. You can be sure Deloitte Touche got their fair share of that £ billion. Deloitte Touche know the Tories will win the next general election, so planting their own employees inside Parliament would be a good strategy to ensure the money kept rolling in. One hand washes the other.

Rotten to the core

Chloe has deceived the voters of Norwich North. She has been disingenuous if not dishonest. What else has she been less than honest about?

The whole system of politics is rotten to the core. The political parties are thoroughly infiltrated with big business, international finance, and the old boy network. It is time for change.

Craig Murray can start that change in Norwich North!